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CIA:
WE’RE NOT TAKING THE FALL ON THIS ONE …
WASHINGTON CHICKENHAWKS ARE “COOKING THE BOOKS” ON THE IRAQ
THREAT…AN ATTACK ON IRAQ IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE “BLOWBACK” - TERRORIST ATTACKS ON THE U.S. HOMELAND AND
U.S. INTERESTS AND CITIZENS ABROAD
10.10.02
TIMES (LONDON)
The view of US intelligence officials,
summarised in a letter written by George Tenet, the CIA Director, suggests
that an
attack on Baghdad is likely to trigger the one thing that President Bush says
he is trying to prevent: the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqi
President.
The letter summarised a classified
CIA report delivered to the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, which
stated that the
likelihood of Iraq launching an unprovoked attack on the US was low.
It immediately gave ammunition to congressional
opponents of military action, where a resolution authorising Mr Bush to use
military force against Baghdad is being debated. For now, the letter says, Baghdad
“appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with
conventional or chemical weapons”.
But it adds: “Should Saddam conclude that a
US-led attack could no longer be deterred, he probably would become much less
constrained in adopting terrorist actions.”
Saddam might help Islamic militants
to use weapons of mass destruction against the US if he sees it as “his last
chance to exact vengeance”.
The letter was delivered to the
Democrat-controlled Intelligence Committee, which has been pressing for
fuller disclosure of classified material measuring the threat posed by Baghdad.
It was sent on Monday, the same day that Mr Bush delivered a televised speech
in Cincinnati, Ohio, making the case for the possible use of force. He warned
that waiting was “the riskiest of all options”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-441634,00.html
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